Improving Efficiency with a Custom Haul Solution

A customer contacted Entro about providing custom rig walking solutions for their single piece substructure. During the site evaluation of the rig it was determined that, in addition to walking the rig, a number of other tanks and machinery skids needed the ability to move from well to well while on location. It was also determined that the standard machinery available to move heavy loads on site was not adequate to move the modules.

The normal solution would be to hire oilfield bed trucks with winches to move the equipment the short distance to the next well. Although the trucks were sufficient to do the job, there were several disadvantages in having to use them. The trucks had to be hired for each move, and were expensive to have on location when delays occurred. In addition, the trucks did not have the ability to easily move the loads sideways.

Entro Industries designed the Hitchwheeler system to improve their customer's efficiency by eliminating the need to hire outside services to move from well to well. The Hitchwheeler system includes two dollies that connect to opposite ends of a box or skid with a loading hitch. The dollies include a hydraulic lift system (powered by 115VAC) so that they can lift a load to ride height without any additional equipment. The dolly axles can pivot 90 degrees, allowing a load to be pushed sideways or towed straight.

With the Hitchwheeler system, the customer was able to improve the efficiency of the drilling process significantly. By lifting the skids with a Hitchwheeler, they were able to move them around the well site easily with a pickup truck or small forklift.